The Story

There has never been enough support for queer & trans people of color (QTPoC), and we need help from our communities as much now as ever before. Diverse groups of people of color are left out of mental health systems and cannot find affirming therapists, and LGBTQIA communities struggle with getting our emotional needs met. Every $1 donated goes to show marginalized individuals that our survival is valuable, that we are valuable.

During any social crisis that impacts marginalized people, we are at risk for trauma from witnessing injustices. Hotlines like Trans Lifeline and The Trevor Project are overwhelmed by need, and often trans and queer people can’t reach support in time, as happened after the U.S. election. We need to reach each other before a crisis with affirming mental health resources for all LGBTQIA persons: Black queers, Latinx, Indigenous persons, Muslims, Asians, trans people of color, and more.

"Study after study shows that having a good support network constitutes the single most powerful protection against becoming traumatized," explains The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Yet many QTPoC are affected by the inherent isolation in having multiple marginalized identities, meaning we have fewer loved ones who can understand our challenges when we need help.

On top of that, barriers to health care access, lack of appropriate mental health care services, poverty, and hate crimes create undue stress. It’s no wonder our communities are so affected by depression, anxiety, and chronic suicidality. QTPoC Mental Health is deeply committed to creating community healing spaces and developing free-to-access resources that help us survive.

Since March 2015, QTPoC Mental Healthhas been addressing these gaps in community health care. Our volunteers host monthly QTPoC Meditations in Brooklyn, run an online peer support space with 2000+ members, and share intersectional mental health resources on social media.

Please donate to uplift those who experience mental health difficulties and have no options for affordable, accessible support. Help create more resources to support LGBTQIA+ communities and POC who are struggling to survive.

Join us in person at QTPoC Meditation, 7 pm the last Monday of every month at Brooklyn Community Pride Center. The next one is Monday, January 2nd, so we can gather to begin the new year on grounded footing.

Now we need more support. The funds we initially raised have run out; yet we're not anywhere near out of incredible ideas to grow our healing website!

Pledge on Patreonto become a monthly sustainer of Rest for Resistance. With your help, our team can continue creating jobs for queer & trans people of color, while creating mental health resources that support communities worldwide. Please also help us spread the word by sharing our articles and letting friends/family/colleagues/neighbors know that our grassroots org runs on donations.

Posted on February 28, 2017

Posted on February 28, 2017

Thank you to all of our donors! We've been able to build and launch our new website and will be able to create new resources over the next couple months. So far, QTPoC Mental Health has featured work by 8 QTPoC artists & 9 QTPoC writers. That includes Eve Moreno, pictured here in a self-portrait from their photo-poem "Self-Preservation as an Act of Self-Care." And thanks to you, it's been possible to pay everyone a fair rate. :)

To continue the success of Rest for Resistance, which includes creating our intersectional mental health resources directory, we'll always need financial support. If you'd like to donate in the future, please consider these options:

Posted on January 31, 2017

Posted on January 31, 2017

Let's face it: Times have been tough. QTPoC Mental Health was founded nearly two years ago because of the lack of resources available to heal from oppression while we fight it. Who could have predicted how much more we would need those resources now?

Thanks to your contributions, we've been able to build a website to create more resources to help people get through this and continue to help each other. Self-care is not a solitary act; it requires community. And we're able to build that online now and offer reminders to rest, recharge, and heal as an act of resistance.